A boy with a dream to play cricket for the country landed a job as a steward at the Taj Mahal Hotel. After a short stint playing county cricket in the U.K., he was beckoned back to India to join his elder brother in his three-year-old advertising firm, Percept Ltd.
Throughout his 28 years as Joint Managing Director of Percept, Shailendra Singh has been known by many names. Some know him as ‘The Sports Marketing Guru’. Some as ‘Advertising Wiz’, ‘Bollywood Producer’ or ‘Entertainment Mogul’. He is ‘Asia’s Largest Music Promoter’, a ‘Bestselling Author’ and is fast emerging as a respected ‘Youth Icon’ for India’s 600 million under the age of 25.
This creative genius in a business suit has changed many a game and broken barriers across verticals. If a company or industry didn't exist, then he forged ahead and created it - successfully launching 23 startups in his career.
Regardless of the title or the industry, anyone who shares part of their journey with S.S. realizes that his success lies in his keen intuition, fount of inexhaustible ideas and having the balls and brains to turn his imagination into reality. From the first brilliant spark of an idea, to its public debut, to the champagne celebration of its success, Shailendra Singh starts really . . . cool. . . shit.
He is The Inceptor.
India's first and largest entertainment, media and communications conglomerate.
Percept Live, a leading Live Media company, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Percept Limited, offers both live and online immersive, entertaining and experiential platforms to enable brands actively engage with millions of consumers and increase their overall brand experience and impact.
In 2014, under his captaincy, Sunburn was ranked the 3rd largest dance music festival in the world (IMS Business Report 2014) and the largest festival in Asia.
For Shailendra, it was always more than just music festival. Sunburn rocketed from a small experiment on a Goan beach, to become the largest festival season on the planet. In Season 7 alone, Sunburn touched over 18 million lives. A much needed entertainment option for the youth of India, fans eat, sleep and breathe Sunburn. Sunburn is a lifestyle.
As fan fanaticism reached unprecedented levels, as the international EDM industry turned their attention to India, and as competition lusted after the coolest youth-connecting brand in the nation, everyone wanted to get backstage at Sunburn. But only a few had AAA access to the mayhem and madness. And only one man has created, captained and bore witness to the entire journey – the Inceptor of Sunburn, Shailendra Singh.
He is the only Indian to be ranked in the 50 Most Powerful People in EDM (2013, inthemix), was invited to join Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder and other industry legends on the conference favorite Gamechangers Panel at ADE 2013, and was the first non-musician to be featured on the cover of RollingStone Magazine. With Sunburn having executed 200+ events in a year and bringing in all the world’s top Djs, Shailendra Singh is Asia's largest Music Promoter.
First non-musician to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone India.
Nile Rodgers and Shailendra Singh on the Gamechangers Panel — Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) 2013.
Armin Van Buuren invites Shailendra Singh on stage — Ping Pong at Sunburn.
Shailendra Singh with Swedish House Mafia at Sunburn Arena: One Last Tour.
Shailendra Singh gifts Dannic and Hardwell Indian ethnic wear before Sunburn Arena: I AM HARDWELL.
Mim from Nervo at Sunburn - Indian hospitality from Shailendra Singh.
Shailendra Singh and Martin Garrix on stage at Sunburn 2015.
Carl Cox and Shailendra Singh on stage at Sunburn Goa 2007.
Kaskade and Shailendra Singh before Sunburn Arena: Kaskade.
“Sunburn Goa is as big as Tomorrowland and Ultra Miami.” IMS APAC Business Report, 2014
It all started with the Airtel Freedom Concert in 1998. India’s first ever live pop music concert witnessed performances by Shiamak Davar, Leslie Lewis and Hariharan. In 2004, the Sangeet Awards celebrated Indian music with a first-of-its kind, blowout event featuring Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan/ Salman Khan/ Rani Mukerji and more.
In 2006, the immaculate execution of the Nokia New Year’s Eve (India’s first international New Year’s concert) bash can be credited to Shailendra’s eye for detail. Produced in partnership with Harvey Goldsmith, Percept stayed true to Nokia’s motto and succeeded in connecting people across the globe with scintillating performances by: Nelly Furtado/ A.R Rehman/ Shahid Kapoor/ Priyanka Chopra/ and choreographed by Shiamak Davar.
There were 5 concerts across 5 cities - Hong Kong, Rio De Janeiro, Mumbai, Berlin, New York - but Percept won the Gold Ex “Excellence Award for the Best International Event” for their management of the event in Mumbai.
In 2007, paying tribute to four decades of Rock and Metal in the country, Shailendra launched Metalfest. Brazilian heavy metal band, Sepultura performed for tens of thousands in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Shillong. Launched in 2011, Bollywood Live (now Bollyboom) was the first ever multicity Bollywood Dance Music Festival and India’s first chance to ‘consume Bollywood’. 2012 saw the launches of Lost - a music intensive, road rally/ Superstar with David Guetta - India's first DJ ranking festival/ DJ Mag India - with Shailendra Singh as Mentor.
Another inception, Fly Music Festival, was released from the Percept stables in February of 2015. Fly is focused on the best international and domestic live bands and musicians, and the inaugural event featured British sensation, Ed Sheeran.
Ed Sheeran and Shailendra Singh at the inaugural Fly Music Festival India, 2015.
Ed Sheeran's India debut — Fly Music Festival, 2015. Incepted by Shailendra Singh.
Guestlist4Good’s World’s Biggest Guestlist Festival wins Best Festival, Best Cause Event and People’s Choice Event at the eventex Global Event Awards, 2018.
With Sunburn established as a global leader, Shailendra decided it was time to take things to the next level. His vision was to unite the world of entertainment to make a positive social difference; rebalancing the equation between commerce, creativity, and cause.
In 2015 he launched the Guestlist4Good Social Enterprise and invited the World’s #1 DJ Hardwell to perform in India, for free. Shailendra put 100,000 fans on his personal guestlist to attend the show for free and the profits were used to educate 18,200 children through Magic Bus. It was the largest attended Facebook Event ever in the history of Facebook and the start of a movement that has educated 128,200 children and entertained 290,000 fans on ground.
“I’m grateful to Shailendra Singh, for making it possible to do the World’s Biggest Guestlist. Together, with the entire team, we not only managed to make history but, more importantly, through the power of music, we made a social impact that positively affects childrens’ lives and their future.”
India’s foremost filmed content production, aggregation, distribution and marketing company.
Shailendra Singh and Priyadarshan with the three National Awards for Kanchivaram (2008).
Priyadarshan, Asrani, Shakti Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Om Puri, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal and Shailendra Singh — Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal.
Shailendra Singh and Varun Dhawan at a Percept Pictures event.
Shailendra Singh launches Sunny Kaushal in his debut film, Sunshine Music Tours and Travel
Mukesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt and Shailendra Singh at the Khuda Kay Liye launch — the first Pakistani film ever released in India.
Shailendra Singh and David Dhawan.
Shailendra Singh, Aishwarya Rai and Michael Douglas
John Abraham and Shailendra Singh during shooting of Aashayein.
Shailendra Singh and Sushmita Sen at the Percept 25th Anniversary Celebrations
In 2008, Shailendra Singh was voted the ‘12th Most Powerful Player in Bollywood’, by Filmfare Magazine. In 2009, Percept Pictures was listed as the 4th Most Powerful Entity in Bollywood on the Filmfare Power List – no minor accomplishment for a company that was barely five years old.
From the critically acclaimed Page 3, to the rib-tickling comedy Malaamal Weekly, India’s first animation feature film Hanuman, to the National Award winning Kanchivaram, Shailendra’s deep understanding of audiences, genres and markets led to the production of a wide gamut of meaningful and commercially viable cinema. In a short span of 6 years, P.P.C. produced and distributed over 72 commercial feature films and made a name for itself as ‘A Studio with a Difference’.
Shailendra’s work in content does not end with cinema. In the TV Programming industry, he was an integral part of the re-birth of one of India’s leading Hindi G.E.C.s, Sahara One, launching India’s first youth-oriented fictional serial, ADA, and Powerr Trip, a trailblazer in the cluttered talk show offerings, hosted by Shoba De. He also commissioned the weekly soap Woh Rehne Waali Mahlon Ki, breaking the 21:00 hrs prime time band wide apart, and India‘s first live dial out game show, Dial One Aur Jeeto. Shailendra was also responsible for launching Filmy, the Hindi language movie channel, in 2006.
Shailendra Singh keynote presentation of Kanchivaram at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2008.
“I believe that cinema is the largest form of communication. Not only does it entertain people, but also has the potential to make a difference - socially, culturally and emotionally.”
Percept’s flagship Events and Experiential company providing a multitude of services spanning Experiential and Entertainment Marketing, Sports Marketing, Events, Weddings, Brand Activation and Promotions in India and overseas.
Shailendra Singh and Michael Douglas at Amby Valley Golf Course.
Shailendra Singh with Formula 1 World Champion David Coulthard - at the Monte Carlo Racetrack.
Shailendra Singh with Sunil Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Airtel at the Airtel Car Rally, a Percept event.
Shaan, Kapil Dev and Shailendra Singh at the Sunburn Awards 2012
Shailendra Singh with MD of Hero, Pawan Munjal, at the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Olympic boxing champion Vijendra Singh — represented by Shailendra Singh.
Lachlan Murdoch and Shailendra Singh at the Percept-Murdoch talent joint venture announcement.
Clive Lloyd, Imran Khan, Shailendra Singh, Kapil Dev and Alan Border - World Cup winning captains get together for the first time for Champions of the World, an IP launched by Shailendra Singh.
Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor and Bombay Gymkhana Captain, Shailendra Singh during visiting Australia team match.
Throughout the years, S.S. is perhaps best known as ‘the face of Indian sports marketing’. He gave up his own cricketing career in 1987, yet his passion for sports drove him to launch and promote many new sporting initiatives in India. In 1994, he setup Percept D’Mark (PDM) and in a short span of time, captained the company to become India’s leading Experiential and Sports Marketing Agency.
His passion, combined with his business acumen, has resulted in significant landmarks for the Indian sports marketing industry. He envisioned a huge opportunity in cricket and conceptualized the famous INR 100 crore sponsorship of the Indian Cricket Team. He single-handedly changed the very dynamics of the sports sponsorship business in India.
Credited as the man who gave birth to ‘Cricketainment’ in India, his contribution to revolutionizing the sport has found a special mention in The IPL handbook. Many years before the billion-dollar IPL league was launched, it was S.S. who organized the same format matches, known then as ‘Masala Matches’.
Not content with just cricket, S.S. shifted his focus to promoting alternate sports in India, including Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Cycling, Wrestling, with Boxing being his personal favorite. Through PDM, he has created, launched and executed close to 1000 sport related events in India, and the world, including: Kargil Benefit Soccer Match, Laureus Sports Academy, Sahara Indian Sports Academy & Awards (SISA), Formula 1 Powerboat Championship, Toronto Sahara Cup Cricket Tournament, LG Cricket First, Lagaan Cup, Million Dollar Arm, Felicitation of Boxing Champions, Sahara Pune Warriors Sponsorship.
Shailendra Singh brokers the Sahara sponsorship of the Indian National Team — the biggest cricket sponsorship in history. ESPN CricInfo, 2001. Read more →
“As we speak about India Next, sport still takes a backseat and does not get the needed attention, recognition and accolades it deserves. India has the potential to become a sporting nation, but to achieve this dream we require an enduring vision, resolute commitment, belief, passion and absolute dedication from each and every Indian across our nation. ”
The intellectual properties : Go for Gold, Champions of the World, Fight Night Lagaan Cup, Goa Super Sixes 11, Good Luck India.
India's first global talent management company for sport, music, movies and fashion — representing 250+ celebrities, athletes and international icons.
Shailendra Singh with Shah Rukh Khan — Percept Talent Management.
Boris Becker — represented by Shailendra Singh through Percept Talent Management.
Somdev Devvaraman — represented by Shailendra Singh through Percept Talent Management.
Shailendra Singh with Hrithik Roshan and Saurav Ganguly at a Percept film shoot.
Hrithik Roshan, Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal and Shailendra Singh at a Percept event.
Shailendra Singh with Kapil Dev — Cricketer of the Millennium.
Personally associated with 250+ celebrities through endorsements, appearances, movies and live entertainment, Shailendra Singh's affair with Talent Management started quite early in his career. At a time when most of the celebrities in India were managed by their secretaries, he was the first to spot the need, and the opportunity. In 2007, he launched Percept Talent Management.
Shailendra was also largely responsible for bringing big-buck endorsements to sports talent. At one point in time, Percept was managing 9 of the eleven top Indian cricketers playing for the National Team. Percept can be credited for starting the entirely new industry, Sports Management, in the Talent Management domain in India.
Responsible for turning many Talents into Brands, with an identity that was beyond their realm and lifespan, the diverse talent pool that he identified and nurtured included Bollywood celebrities, Sports Stars, Musicians, Writers, Directors, Fashion Designers and International icons:
national talent
Aamir Khan ✫ Aishwarya Rai ✫ Amitabh Bachchan
Amrita Rao ✫ Bipasha Basu ✫ Dia Mirza ✫ Hrithik Roshan
Karan Johar ✫ Kareena Kapoor ✫ Katrina Kaif
Lara Dutta ✫ Mallika Sherwat ✫ Neil Nitin Mukesh
Preity Zinta ✫ Priyanka Chopra ✫ Rani Mukherji
Salman Khan ✫ Shah Rukh Khan ✫ Shilpa Shetty
Gagan Ajit Singh ✫ Jai Bhagwan ✫ Kapil Dev
Manoj Kumar ✫ M.S. Dhoni ✫ Rahul Dravid
Waqar Younis ✫ Sunil Gavaskar ✫ Sourav Ganguly
S. Sreesanth ✫ Sushil Kumar ✫ Vijendra Singh
Virendra Sehwag ✫ Yuvraj Singh ✫ Zaheer Khan
international talent
Boris Becker ✫ Daley Thompson ✫ Edwin Moses
Michael Johnson ✫ Mohammed Kaif ✫ Nadia Comaneci
Ricky Ponting ✫ Shaun Pollock ✫ Stephen Fleming ✫ Steve Tikolo
“My association with Percept has been great. More than being able to efficiently manage my work they’re great people to be associated with. It’s been a very pleasant journey, good fun and I’ve been able to depend on them.”
“I’ve had a great association with Percept. They have been quite instrumental in my endeavors, and are a hardworking set of people.”
“I hope we do some kick-ass work again soon!”
The flagship advertising agency of Percept that offers holistic planning, support and creative execution for clients through innovative ideas and original mediums.
Shailendra Singh — Entrepreneur of the Year.
Rajan Mittal, Shailendra Singh and Sunil Mittal — Bharti Airtel. Percept was the advertising agency for Airtel.
Shailendra Singh with Pawan Munjal, CEO of Hero MotoCorp, at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
Rajan Mittal (Bharti Enterprises), Subrato Roy (Sahara Group) and Shailendra Singh — Percept event.
Shailendra Singh with Kishore Biyani, founder of Future Group — Percept event.
Shailendra Singh with professional golfer Anthony Kang and Manish Goenka at the Hero Honda Indian Open Golf Tournament.
Some of us are born explorers, some of us are born inventors, but only a handful of us can be branded as innovators.
In the early years of Percept Advertising, Shailendra’s success came from analyzing global advertising published in international magazines and adapting these trends to suit Indian customers. Innovation was the name of the game, but the key ingredient in the formula for success was an acute understanding of the Indian consumer.
Within a few short years, this small advertising agency became India’s leading homegrown communications group, producing over 2,000 award winning ad campaigns for some of the best known Indian and multinational clients.
“The single most important factor that Percept brought to the table for Hero Honda is the emotional connect with the customer. With Shailendra’s ‘Desh Ki Dhadkan’ campaign, we managed to go beyond the functional aspects of the product and connect with the consumer emotionally.”
The Desh Ki Dhadkan campaign — meaning 'heartbeat of the nation' — made Hero Honda the most emotionally connected automotive brand in India and is considered one of the most celebrated advertising campaigns in Indian history.
Aishwarya Rai Bipasha Basu Lara Dutta
Sushmita Sen Hrithik Roshan Karan Johar
Boris Becker Lalit Modi Saurav Ganguly
Kapil Dev Yuvraj Singh
Saif Ali Khan and Salman Khan at the Mukti Foundation AIDS awareness concert organised by Shailendra Singh — HIV AIDS awareness event
Kishore Biyani, Kapil Dev, Shailendra Singh, Amish Tripathi, Sumedha Mahajan and Arjun Vajpai at the launch of Made in India
Made in India movement — outdoor advertising hoarding.
Lara Dutta at the Mukti Foundation Aids Concert, incepted by Shailendra Singh
Salman Khan at the Mukti Foundation AIDS Concert — organised by Shailendra Singh and Percept.
AdGully coverage of Made in India launch — Kapil Dev, Amish Tripathi and Arjun Vajpai with Shailendra Singh. Read article →
Smita Thackery and Shah Rukh Khan light the lamp at the Mukti Foundation Aids Concert
Vivek Oberoi and Shailendra Singh at Walk for Life — HIV AIDS awareness.
Shah Rukh Khan at the Mukti Foundation AIDS Concert — organised by Shailendra Singh and Smita Thack
After 25 years as Joint Managing Director of Percept, Shailendra Singh has “been there, and done that”. But, through it all, he has always strived to give back - using his skills, networks and resources to make a difference in the world. Since his core competencies lie in communication, marketing and media, he has focused on harnessing these strengths to create awareness for a number of causes.
Shailendra's contribution to creating awareness for HIV/AIDS has been especially unparalleled. From live shows for The Mukti Foundation, to the cause based feature film “Phir Milenge”, to various events such as Walk for Life, and multifold ad campaigns detailing the causes and breaking the stigmas of of HIV/AIDS, Shailendra’s dedication to the cause is beyond compare. For his work, Shailendra Singh received the MTV Staying Alive Award - the first and only time the award was given in India.
In order to coordinate his social responsibility efforts, Shailendra incepted:
United is a Social Awareness Foundation working with Corporates, Individuals, Marketing Organizations and Celebrities who wish to harness the power of togetherness to make a positive change in the world around them.
“We have a responsibility individually and collectively towards a broader constituency, which includes the entire community we operate in. The only society that succeeds today is one that’s founded on mutual respect, compassion and collaboration. We have the power of choice, and need to break the mould and move beyond corporate social responsibility to social innovation and creating enduring solutions for humanity. ”
Shailendra Singh with a child at the Made in India movement.
Hope Gala
Held at the Royal Albert Hall, London, this concert raised funds for war-torn countries like Iraq, Angola and Kosovo where the maximum number of children suffer from leukaemia. It featured Sonu Nigam, Sapna Mukherjee and Elton John.
Tsunami Relief Cricket Match
Aamir Khan XI vs. Sachin Tendulkar XI, to raise funds for Tsunami victims.
Sahara Kargil Benefit Cricket Match
Film personalities vs. cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan. Dignitaries included the Prime Minister of India and Defense Minister.
Gujarat Drought Relief Match
Hrithik Roshan XI vs. Sachin Tendulkar XI played for the Gujarat drought victims.
Siyaram’s Tennis Challenge
India vs. Australia, at Chennai, to raise funds for earthquake relief. Boris Becker, Yuvraj Singh, Kapil Dev and Aamir Khan graced the occasion.
Hercules: Pedal for Mumbai Rally
For a ‘cleaner and greener’ city, in association with the Mumbai Traffic Police.
C.P.A. Kambakth Piracy Entertainment Nite
Spreading awareness through entertainment by Cinema Peoples Academy to spread the message of anti-piracy. Performances by Salman Khan, Yana Gupta and Govinda.
AVON Pink Walkathon
For Breast Cancer Awareness.
Pink Lips Concert
Performances by Salim Sulaiman, Shaan and Meiyang Chang to commemorate ‘World No Tobacco Day’ in association with Cancer Patients Aids Association.
Celebrities XI vs. Doctors XI
The T20 cricket match to raise funds for C.P.A.A.’s fight against tobacco related cancer included Govinda, Suniel Shetty, Sohail Khan, Milind Soman and prominent surgeons from across the country.
Leave No Trace
Sunburn joined hands with United to inculcate a sense of environmental responsibility in youth, making the event the most eco-friendly festival in Asia.
‘I AM INDIA’
A movement pioneered by Shailendra Singh and initiated by United to create awareness about the power of Brand India. Providing a platform for Youth to represent India and spread global awareness about the power of “Brand India”.
Kargil Benefit Concert
A concert on the Kargil border with celebrities and dignitaries like Shah Rukh Khan, A.R. Rahman, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Shailendra Singh received the MTV Staying Alive Award — the first and only time the award was given in India. It was presented by Singer-Songwriter Alanis Morissette and Shilpa Shetty at the 2004 MTV Immies.
Mukti AIDS Concerts
In association with Smita Thackeray, S.S. has executed numerous star studded concerts each year on World AIDS Day - 1st Dec. With performances by Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Lara Dutta, Shaan, Kailash Kher, and attended by Dharmendra, Ranbir Kapoor, Priya Dutt, Anu Malik and many more, proceeds are donated to NGOs working for AIDS awareness causes across India.
Mukti AIDS Foundation Events
Throughout the years, S.S. and Percept have handled most major events initiated by the Mukti Foundation, including theater, sporting and awards events.
Mukti AIDS TV Campaign
Shown on all major satellite channels and theaters across the country, P.P.C. directed three groundbreaking commercials, with Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Salman Khan, to raise awareness about HIV/ AIDS. Percept Advertising has been a Mukti Foundation partner in a majority of its social action projects.
Masti Xpress
In 2005, in association with director Ashok Pandit, S.S. conceptualized and executed a superstar performance for 500 children affected by AIDS. Anupam Kher, Salman Khan, Govinda, Rajpal Yadav, Satish Kaushik, Shakti Kapoor and Himesh Reshamiya lit up the stage.
Walk for Life
S.S. organized top celebrities, Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Neha Dhupia, Amrita Arora and so many more, to walk the ramp with HIV infected children to show their support for the cause of HIV/ AIDS. The evening ended with an auction to raise funds for awareness initiatives.
Pedal for Life
Cyclathon to raise funds and awareness for HIV/ AIDS.
MTV Staying Alive Award
Presented to S.S. by Alanis Morissette and Kamal Hassan in recognition of his movie Phir Milenge, India’s first commercial film about AIDS, and for his outstanding contribution to the cause of HIV/AIDS awareness.
NAB National Award
Awarded in recognition of his untiring efforts to spread mass awareness about the visually impaired.
Just Some Campaigns Created or Organizations Associated with:
Shailendra Singh has carried on his philanthropy by launching Guestlist4Good : India’s first and only entertainment-for-good social enterprise.